Person:Jacob Krob (2)

{geni:occupation} cultivateur

Jacob was born in the little farming village of Berling, about 40 minutes drive northwest of Strasbourg. His parents were Jacques Krob and Charlotte Stenger, both of Berling. Jacob was extremely tall, reportedly reaching a mature height of 6'8". He married Sophie Fess with whom he had five children, Jacob, Sophie, Harry, Melanie and Louis. The family settled in the nearby farming village of Schalbach. Family lore has it that Jacob had two brothers, one of which was blonde (the "White Krob") and the other which had red hair (the "Red Krob"). Jacob having dark coal black hair was known as the "Black Krob".

The politics of war played a major role in determining the futures of the three Krob brothers. (Much of what follows was found in the Wikipedia entry for Alsace-Lorraine). -- Following the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the French departments of Moselle, Meurthe, Vosges, Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin were reconfigured, lopping-off substantial portions of territory into what would become Alsace-Lorraine, which was annexed to Germany under the Treaty of Frankfurt. The rationale for this was that the populations of both were majority ethnic Germans combined with the fact that their lands contained large deposits of iron ore and machine shops. The Treaty gave the residents until October, 1872 to choose between emigrating to France or remaining in the region and having their nationality legally changed to German. By 1876, about 5% of the population had emigrated. But for those who remained, the "being French" feeling stayed strong, at least during the first 16 years of the annexation. During the Reichstag elections, the fifteen deputies of 1874, 1881, 1884 (but one) and 1887 were called "protester deputies" because they expressed to the Parliament in an 1874 Motion (in the French language) their opposition to the annexation. The loss of these terrotories was a source of resentment throughout France for years to come and contributed to the public support for World War I.

As the German government consolidated its power following 1871, countries that were previously without a General Staff or a system of universal conscription soon adopted both. This did not sit well with the Krob brothers. According to family lore, all three brothers eventually decided to emigrate as they swore never to serve in the German Army. Two of the brothers emigrated to South America, one to "Bresil" (according to church records in Schalbach) and the other believed to have gone to Argentina. Jacob and his family decided they would emigrate to the United States around 1888.

The details of what followed are somewhat fuzzy, but appear to be consistent among branches of the family. Jacob apparently set off first alone for New York, but mysteriously disappeared. Sophie and the five children later followed in the hope of locating him, but to no avail. Sophie retained Pinkerton's detective agency to investigate what had happened to Jacob. Little in the way of hard facts were turned-up. His last known whereabouts were traced to a rooming house in New York City. It is suspected that he was likely robbed and then murdered, being that as a big man he probably resisted and was subdued by accomplices.